Blue Jays’ First-Time Rule 5-Eligible Players in 2012

These are all of the players who will be eligible for the first time for the Rule 5 draft held in December at the Winter Meetings. Michael Crouse is a name that was quite promising a year ago but who dropped off in 2012. Ryan Goins performed well in the Eastern League in 2012 for a SS and has been sent to the Arizona Fall League with the Salt River Rafters. He is joined by fellow first-time eligible players Ryan Tepera and Sean Ochinko. AJ Jimenez will need to be protected this year as he recovers from Tommy John surgery that ended his 2012 season. SS Kevin Nolan is another interesting name that the Jays might consider protecting. All of the above except Nolan and Ochinko will make their case for protection in the Arizona Fall League.

Currently, there are 37 players on the Jays’ 40-man roster including Omar Vizquel and all of the pending free agents. The pitchers expected to vacate spots on the 40-man roster include Kelly Johnson, Brandon Lyon, Carlos Villanueva, and long-time reliever Jason Frasor. This would drop the Jays down to 32 with pitchers JA Happ, Sergio Santos, Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison and Dustin McGowan all needing protection from the Rule 5 draft. Barring an unexpected move, these 5 will will return to the 40-man. This bumps the Jays back up to 37.

The replacements for departing relievers/second basemen may come from the AFL where they will likely be competing for a spot on the 40-man. AJ Jimenez will likely be protected as he was a Top 20 prospect in the Jays system and should recover fully from his mid-season Tommy John surgery. John Stilson was a name that could have competed for the 40-man and possibly on the active roster in the Spring of 2013. He was recently removed from the AFL roster by the Jays and its unclear whether it was because he was injured, tired or something else. Perhaps the team have decided against pushing up his timeline and will give him another full season in the Minors to develop as a starter. Sean Ochinko and Ryan Tepera have failed to turn heads in the AFL so far and must be considered long-shots for the 40-man at this point. Ryan Goins could be protected because there is a distinct lack of depth to the Jays’ system in the middle infield where Goins has performed as high as New Hampshire (AA).